I also know that there have been many times in our history when the proximity of an election has induced exactly the kind of leadership and consensus-building that produce progress in our democracy.

In the 2000 presidential election Gore and Lieberman won the popular vote by a margin of more than 500000 votes but lost the deciding Electoral College to the Republican George W. S. But since his speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention in which he endorsed John McCain for president Lieberman no longer attended Democratic Caucus leadership strategy meetings or policy lunches.